Thanks, Helen!

It's always nice when someone demonstrates that he or she never need be taken seriously again, as Helen Thomas does in this column, supporting the appointment of Caroline Kennedy to Hilary Clinton's soon-to-be-vacant Senate seat. Among the few real supporting facts Thomas provides is:

Both Kennedy and Clinton have lived in the White House.

Wow! I'm convinced!

Thomas does point out that Hilary had a pretty thin resume when she began her Senate run. But Hilary did work on policy -- if only informally -- in Bill's administration, and she did actually have to compete for her Senate seat. (Hilary has always struck me as a woman who decided that no woman would be president in her lifetime, so she hitched her star to a man who could.)

Caroline Kennedy, on the other hand, has not displayed much of an interest in public life -- unlike many of her cousins -- and would be essentially handed the seat on a silver platter.